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Couple enjoy escape of modern-day treasure hunting

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When Roger Crozier hears “Whoop, whoop, whoop,” he knows Julie has struck gold. This recently married couple searches for modern buried treasure in an outdoor activity called “geocaching” — pronounced geo-cashing.

A GPS device is essential for hiding or discovering a geocache. San Antonian Jennifer Cortinas, a geocacher since 2003, returns one to its hiding spot. PHOTO BY LEFTY RAY CHAPA/SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS

This treasure hunt involves using a hand-held GPS (Global Positioning System) device to lead them to the location, called a “geocache” via GPS coordinates, which can be found online.

Tales of buried treasure have abounded in Texas since the 1800s. While these secret stashes were meant to be hidden from everyone, today’s geocaches are meant to be found over and over again.

Originally the GPS system was for military use as a navigational aid. “Geocachers,” as these treasure seekers are called, adopted GPS devices to help seek or hide a geocache, or “cache” for short.

Cache sites can be found on a number of websites, with geocaching.com being the largest and oldest, currently celebrating its 10th anniversary. They list more than 40,000 cache sites in Texas and more than 4,000 in a 70-mile radius around San Antonio.

When seeking a cache, Julie recommends good shoes, bug spray, a flashlight, extra batteries and plenty of water. She also says not all caches are buried. Some are hidden under bushes, trees, or anything nearby that will help conceal the container.

She remembers one site that was reminiscent of the Roadrunner cartoons, where some fake birdseed marked “the spot,” but the container was not there. It was only after looking up above the bird seed that she saw a fake “Acme” labeled bomb dangling from the trees that held the container.

Roger says the containers vary from small Altoid metal boxes (almost the worst because they rust) to ammo boxes (the best). He adds that the best containers have to be waterproof and rugged to withstand the elements.

The treasure inside the containers varies, and its worth is in the eye of the beholder. An unwritten rule is that all containers contain a logbook and a pen. This is so that geocachers can enter their name and date of discovery.

Another unofficial rule is that if you take something out of the container, replace it with something of equal or greater value. This keeps the contents always changing over the course of multiple visits. It also keeps the number of Happy Meal toys to a minimum.

Julie asserts it is not the contents that keep her in “the hunt” but the challenge and adventure of getting there and finding it. She has geocached in several countries and more than 30 states and has logged more than 20,000 cache sites.

When asked what has been her biggest geocache find, she says it is her husband. The San Antonians were ardent geocachers beforehand and met at a geocache event. When Roger finally got around to asking her out, their first date was on a jet ski to find a cache on an island on Canyon Lake.

Since then, they geocached on their engagement in Hawaii and on their wedding day. His vows included “to keep her supplied with fresh batteries and to make U-turns on command.”

Julie adds that each new cache “is a totally new experience, and that’s what keeps it fresh.” Having a partner who enjoys “the hunt” as much as she does certainly doesn’t hurt either.